National Park(ing) Day is today in downtown Syracuse. Events include a public 'dining room table' at West Jefferson and Franklin streets, a Marie Antoinette 'introduction' outside the Everson Museum of Art, a 'green oasis' at the Doubletree Hotel in Armory Square and an Alchemy Nursery Project exhibition in Hanover Square that will focus on sustainable living.

The idea was started by a California art collective as a way "to reimagine the potential of the metered parking space."

Also, the annual Onondaga Creek cleanup - a high-energy event - is Saturday morning. Volunteers are asked to gather at Kirk Park between 8 and 8:30 a.m., where organizers will pass out assignments. During the cleanup, which has been tremendously successful over the years, workers go into the water in kayaks and canoes and pull out garbage which is dragged away for pickup by other volunteers.

You can call the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County, 424-9485, for more information.